Puerto Rican oriole

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Puerto Rican oriole
Icterus portoricensis imported from iNaturalist photo 6037124 on 4 September 2019.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Icterus
Species:
I. portoricensis
Binomial name
Icterus portoricensis
H. Bryant, 1866
Icterus portoricensis map.svg

The Puerto Rican oriole (Icterus portoricensis), or calandria is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, and genus Icterus or New World blackbirds. This species is a part of a subgroup of orioles (Clade A) that includes the North American orchard oriole, Icterus spurius, and the hooded oriole, Icterus cucullatus.

Contents

The Puerto Rican oriole was previously grouped with Cuban oriole (Icterus melanopsis), Hispaniolan oriole (Icterus dominicensis), and Bahama oriole (Icterus northropi) as a single species, (Icterus dominicensis). In 2010, all four species became recognized as full species by the American Ornithologists' Union. [2]

Habitat

The oriole is endemic to Puerto Rico. Its natural habitats are the tropical forests, mangrove forests, and plantations. The bird also shows a natural preference for nesting in palm trees. [3]

Behavior

After breeding, adult Puerto Rican orioles and their young will remain together in a family group. It primarily forages in dense vegetation looking for a wide range of foods that includes fruits, insects, lizards, and nuts and grains. [3]

Description

Males and females are similar in size and color. Males weigh about 41.0 grams and females weigh about 36.6 g. The average wingspan of males and females is 96.9 and 92.1 mm, respectively. [4] In 2008, Hofmann, Cronin, and Omland, conducted a study that showed there is little color difference in the feathers between the males and females of many tropical orioles, including the Puerto Rican oriole. [5] This means that males and females both have elaborate colors, in contrast many temperate-zoned birds have brightly colored males and dull colored females.

Adults are black with yellow on their lower belly and shoulder. The closely related Hispaniolan oriole (Icterus dominicensis) and Bahama oriole (Icterus northropi) have more yellow on their bodies, but, the Cuban oriole (Icterus melanopsis) has more black. [3]

Juveniles are tawny colored with an olive tint to their rump. [4] Puerto Rican orioles develop their bright colors as they age. The tawny color offers a selective advantage to the adolescents since by helping with camouflage in the dense forest. This is likely the ancestral state for the genus Icterus.

Communication

Both males and females of the Puerto Rican oriole sing with no obvious difference in song structure. The song of the Puerto Rican oriole is composed of clicks or “high pitched whistles” [4] and has a frequency range between 3.6 and 5.3 kHz. The bird combines between 15 and 27 different notes to make up their song. [6] Due to gender and geographic bias in studying predominantly male samples of temperate-zone birds, which do not exhibit female song, it has historically been assumed that only males of the Puerto Rican orioles sing. [7] However, in 2009, Price, Lanyon, and Omland conducted a study that shows that both males and females of many tropical orioles sing. [8] This has been substantiated by 2016 documentation of female song in Puerto Rican orioles by Campbell et al., proving that song is not a method of communication solely possessed by males. [9] The research theorizes that the prevalence of female song correlates to a tropical lifestyle wherein there is increased female-female competition and territory defense that necessitates such communication. Additionally, ancestral state reconstruction of the Caribbean oriole clade shows that female song is an ancestral trait.

Reproduction

Most members of this genus are thought to be monogamous, establishing lifelong bonds between males and females. The Puerto Rican oriole breeds primarily from February through July. It lays about three eggs per clutch. [3] The eggs are white with a bluish hue with light lavender-gray-brown speckles and spots. [4] The nests are structured as a basket made from woven fibers of palm material, and are usually suspended from the underside of a palm leaf by two points. One threat to oriole nesting is parasitism by the shiny cowbird, especially in coastal habitats. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Icterid</span> Family of birds, often black with yellow, orange, or red markings

Icterids or New World blackbirds make up a family, the Icteridae, of small to medium-sized, often colorful, New World passerine birds. The family contains 108 species and is divided into 30 genera. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. The species in the family vary widely in size, shape, behavior, and coloration. The name, meaning "jaundiced ones" comes from the Ancient Greek ikteros via the Latin ictericus. This group includes the New World blackbirds, New World orioles, the bobolink, meadowlarks, grackles, cowbirds, oropendolas, and caciques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New World oriole</span> Genus of birds

New World orioles are a group of birds in the genus Icterus of the blackbird family. Unrelated to Old World orioles of the family Oriolidae, they are strikingly similar in size, diet, behavior, and strongly contrasting plumage. As a result, the two have been given the same vernacular name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venezuelan troupial</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moriche oriole</span> Subspecies of bird

The moriche oriole is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It is unrelated to Old World orioles. It is a breeding resident in the tropics of eastern South America. This bird is noted for its close association with the palm Mauritia flexuosa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Rican spindalis</span> Species of bird

The Puerto Rican spindalis is a bird endemic to the island of Puerto Rico, where it is commonly known as reina mora. The species is widely distributed throughout the island and is an important part of the Puerto Rican ecosystem because of its help in seed dispersal and plant reproduction. The Puerto Rican spindalis is the unofficial national bird of Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Rican woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The Puerto Rican woodpecker is the only woodpecker endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico and is one of the five species of the genus Melanerpes that occur in the Antilles. Furthermore, it is the only resident species of the family Picidae in Puerto Rico. The species is common on the main island of Puerto Rico and rare on the island of Vieques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-shouldered blackbird</span> Species of bird

The yellow-shouldered blackbird, known in Puerto Rican Spanish as mariquita de Puerto Rico or capitán, is a species of blackbird endemic to Puerto Rico. It has black plumage with a prominent yellow patch on the wing. Adult males and females are of similar appearance. The species is predominantly insectivorous.

<i>Spindalis</i> Genus of birds

Spindalis is a genus consisting of four non-migratory species of bird. It is the only genus in the family Spindalidae. The species are mostly endemic to the West Indies; exceptions include populations of western spindalises on Cozumel Island, off the Yucatán Peninsula's east coast, and in extreme southeastern Florida. The species were traditionally considered aberrant members of the tanager family Thraupidae. Taxonomic studies recover them as a sister group to the Puerto Rican tanager, and some group Spindalidae and Nesospingidae within the Phaenicophilidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audubon's oriole</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martinique oriole</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-backed oriole</span> Species of bird

The yellow-backed oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaican oriole</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-cowled oriole</span> Species of bird (Icterus prosthemelas) in Central America

The black-cowled oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is common and widespread in the Caribbean lowlands and foothills from southern Mexico to western Panama. It lives primarily in humid or semihumid forest, as well as in clearings, along forest edges, in plantations, in semi-open areas with scattered trees and bushes, and in gardens. The adult male is black, with yellow on the belly, shoulder, rump, wing lining, and crissum. The female's plumage varies depending on location. In the south of its range, it is similar to that of the male. In the north, its crown and upperparts are olive-yellow, while its face, throat, upper breast, wings, and tail are black.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tortuguero Lagoon</span> Natural reservoir located between Vega Baja and Manatí, Puerto Rico

Laguna Tortuguero Natural Reserve is a natural reservoir located between the municipalities of Vega Baja and Manatí in Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hispaniolan oriole</span> Species of oriole endemic to Hispanola

The Hispaniolan oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban oriole</span> Species of songbird

The Cuban oriole is a species of songbird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahama oriole</span> Species of songbird

The Bahama oriole is a species of songbird in the New World blackbird family Icteridae. It is endemic to the Bahamas, and listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Icterus portoricensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22736385A95132520. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22736385A95132520.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Chesser, R. T., R. C. Banks, F. K. Barker, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, A. W. Kratter, I. J. Lovette, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr, J. D. Rising , D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2010. Fifty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American Birds. Auk 127(3):726-744.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Jaramillo, A., P. Burke. 1999. New World Blackbirds. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Garrido, O., J. Wiley, A. Kirkconnell. 2005. Genus Icterus in the West Indies. Ornitologia Neotropical, 16: 449-470.
  5. Hofmann, C., T. Cronin, K. Omland. 2008. Evolution of sexual dichromatism. 1. convergent losses of elaborate female coloration in New World orioles (Icterus spp.).Auk, 125: 778-789.
  6. Price, J., N. Friedman, K. Omland. 2007. Song and plumage evolution in the New World orioles (Icterus) show similar lability and convergence in patterns. Evolution, 61: 850-863
  7. Haines, Casey D.; Rose, Evangeline M.; Odom, Karan J.; Omland, Kevin E. (2020-10-01). "The role of diversity in science: a case study of women advancing female birdsong research". Animal Behaviour. 168: 19–24. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.07.021 . hdl: 11603/20069 . ISSN   0003-3472.
  8. Price, J., S. Lanyon, K. Omland. 2009. Losses of female song with changes from tropical to temperate breeding in the New World blackbirds. Proceedings Royal Society of London, Biological Sciences, 276: 1971-1980.
  9. Campbell, S.K., A.L. Morales-Perez, J.F. Malloy, O.C. Muellerklein, J.A. Kim, K.J. Odom, and K.E. Omland. 2016. Documentation of female song in a newly recognized species, the Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis). Journal of Caribbean Ornithology 29:28–36

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